What’s New?
- Biographies: Jamaica Kincaid, Marilyn Nelson, Clifford Ashley, and Sylvia Earle
- Audio: Harriet Beecher Stowe's The Pearl of Orr’s Island
- Video: Derek Walcott reads "Sea Grapes"
- Featured Author: Ursula K. Le Guin
Author Archives: Lani Willmar
Yang, Jeffrey
by Jaehyun Jeong (2015) YANG, JEFFREY (1974-) Jeffrey Yang is an American poet, translator, and editor best known for his books of poetry An Aquarium (2008) and Vanishing-Line (2011). Born in Escondido, California, Yang attended the University of California San Diego. With an initial interest Continue reading text links
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Tagged 21st Century, Atlantic Ocean, audio, Exploration, Middle Passage and Enslavement, Pacific Ocean, Poetry, Race/Ethnicity and the Sea, Science/Nature, video
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Williams, Tennessee
by Felicia Hardison Londre (2000) WILLIAMS, TENNESSEE [THOMAS LANIER] (1911-1983). Winner of four New York Drama Critics’ Circle Awards and two Pulitzer Prizes for his plays, Tennessee Williams is most identified with the American South. He was born in Mississippi Continue reading text links
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Tagged 20th Century, Atlantic Ocean, Gender/Sexuality and the Sea, Gulf of Mexico, Multimedia/Multimodal, Pacific Islands, Passenger Travel, Plays, Recreation
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White, E. B.
by Hillary Frey and Mira Dock (2000) WHITE, E[LWYN]. B[ROOKS]. (1899-1983). Best known for his articles in The New Yorker and his children’s books, E. B. White reflected significantly upon his relationship with the sea in two important essays, “The Continue reading text links
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Tagged 20th Century, Atlantic Ocean, Children's Writing, First-person narrative, Fishing, Pacific Ocean, Passenger Travel, Recreation
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Warner, William W.
by Brian Anderson (2000) WARNER, WILLIAM W[HITESIDES]. (1920-2008). Naturalist-author William W. Warner was born in New York City. From 1944 to 1946, he served in the U.S. Navy, where he rose to the rank of lieutenant, junior grade, and was awarded Continue reading text links
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Tagged 20th Century, Atlantic Ocean, First-person narrative, Fishing, Navy/Coast Guard, Nonfiction, Science/Nature
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Walcott, Derek
by Jill B. Gidmark (2000) WALCOTT, DEREK [ALTON] (1930-2017). Winner of the 1992 Nobel Prize in literature, Derek Walcott identifies in his life and work two primary inspirations: the Caribbean Sea and his mixed-race heritage. Born and raised in the harbor Continue reading text links
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Tagged 20th Century, Atlantic Ocean, Caribbean, Fishing, Plays, Poetry, Race/Ethnicity and the Sea, Science/Nature, video, Whaling/Sealing
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Snider, Charles Henry Jeremiah
by Donald P. Curtis (2000) SNIDER, CHARLES HENRY JEREMIAH (1879-1971). A Canadian born in Sherwood, Ontario, Charles Snider first sailed the Great Lakes at age eleven and later worked in its merchant marine. During a fifty-year career at the Toronto Telegram, Continue reading text links
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Hurlbut, Frances B.
by Donald P. Curtis (2000) HURLBUT, FRANCES [BRINDEL] (1842?-1892). Orphaned by age nine, Frances Hurlbut, nee Brindel, left Pennsylvania for Newport (now Marine City), Michigan, to live with her aunt, Emily Ward. Hurlbut’s only publication, Grandmother’s Stories (1889), recounts Aunt Emily’s Continue reading text links
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Tagged 19th Century, First-person narrative, Great Lakes
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Hine, Ephraim Curtiss
by Thomas Farel Heffernan (2000) HINE, EPHRAIM CURTISS (1818?-1853). Sailor and author raised in Genoa, New York, Ephraim Curtiss Hine is best known today as the model for the nautical poet Lemsford in Herman Melville’s novel White-Jacket (1850). Melville, who was Continue reading text links
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Tagged 19th Century, Fiction, Navy/Coast Guard, Poetry, Short Story
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Hemingway, Ernest Miller
by Bickford Sylvester (2000) HEMINGWAY, ERNEST MILLER (1899-1961). Ernest Hemingway, winner of the Pulitzer Prize in fiction (1952) and the Nobel Prize in literature (1954), grew up in Oak Park, Illinois. Except when rough water forced them to go by Continue reading text links
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Tagged 20th Century, Caribbean, Exploration, Fiction, Fishing, Great Lakes, Nonfiction, Short Story, video
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Hart, Joseph C.
by Nathaniel Philbrick HART, JOSEPH C. (1798-1855). A New Yorker whose mother’s family came from Nantucket Island, Joseph C. Hart is known today as the author of Miriam Coffin, or The Whale-Fishermen (1834), a novel that was an important source Continue reading text links
Hallet, Richard Matthews
by Bert Bender HALLET, RICHARD MATTHEWS (1887-1967). In 1912, at age twenty-five and with both a B.A. and LL.B. from Harvard University, Richard Matthews Hallet abandoned the practice of law in search of adventure and a career as a sea-writer. Continue reading text links
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Tagged 20th Century, First-person narrative, Great Lakes, Indian Ocean, War
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Hale, Edward Everett
by Norman E. Stafford HALE, EDWARD EVERETT (1822-1909). Born in Boston, Edward Everett Hale belonged to an old New England family. His great-uncle, Captain Nathan Hale, uttered the memorable cry, “I only regret that I have but one life to Continue reading text links
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Tagged 19th Century, Fiction, Nonfiction, Short Story
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Green, Paul
by David R. Pellegrini (2000) GREEN, PAUL [ELIOT] (1894-1981). A prolific playwright and poet whose literary career spanned several decades and genres, Paul Green is remembered chiefly for his dramatizations of southern folklore and customs and the plight of the Continue reading text links
Gould, John W.
by Peter H. McCracken (2000) GOULD, JOHN W. (1814-1838). John W. Gould was born in Litchfield, Connecticut, the seventh son of influential judge and educator James Gould. He was christened “John Gould” but added the middle initial “W.” in 1835 Continue reading text links
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Tagged 19th Century, Fiction, First-person narrative, Nonfiction, Piracy
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Gilkerson, William
by Michael P. Dyer (2000) GILKERSON, WILLIAM (1936-2015). William Gilkerson wrote nine books, most of which relate directly to maritime history. His first book, Gilkerson on War–From Rocks to Rockets (1964), is an exception, as it only touches upon maritime Continue reading text links
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Tagged 20th Century, Fiction, Maritime History, Multimedia/Multimodal, Whaling/Sealing
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Gardner, John
by William Crisman (2000) GARDNER, JOHN [CHAMPLIN] (1933-1982). The son of a dairy farmer, John Gardner had no important personal connection with the sea. Indeed, his maritime novella, The King’s Indian (1972, in a volume of the same name), a Continue reading text links
Gann, Ernest K.
by James F. Millinger (2000) GANN, ERNEST K[ELLOGG]. (1910-1991). Known primarily for his books in the field of aviation literature, Ernest K. Gann wrote about seafaring in Twilight for the Gods (1956) and Song of the Sirens (1968). Twilight for Continue reading text links
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Tagged 20th Century, Fiction, Pacific Islands, Pacific Ocean
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Galloway, Les
by Haskell Springer (2000) GALLOWAY, LES [EDWARD WILLIAM] (1919-1990). A commercial fisherman for most of his life, Les Galloway also wrote fiction, publishing short sea stories in several periodicals. Of Great Spaces (1987), shared with Jerome Gold, collects and reprints Continue reading text links
Gallery, Daniel V.
by Robert Shenk (2000) GALLERY, DANIEL V[INCENT]. (1901-1977). Admiral Daniel V. Gallery, termed a “true original” by his friend Herman Wouk, was a brilliant career naval officer who published widely both during and after his naval duty. A 1920 Naval Continue reading text links
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Tagged 20th Century, First-person narrative, Navy/Coast Guard, Short Story
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Fanning, Nathaniel
by Daniel E. Williams (2000) FANNING, NATHANIEL (1755-1805). Nathaniel Fanning’s Narrative of the Adventures of an American Navy Officer (1806) is one of the most reliable, graphic, and extensive eyewitness accounts of the famous battle between the Bonhomme Richard and Continue reading text links
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Tagged 18th Century, First-person narrative, Navy/Coast Guard, War
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Eiseley, Loren
by William A. Sullivan (2000) EISELEY, LOREN C[OREY]. (1907-1977). Loren C. Eiseley, anthropologist, educator, and author, was born in Lincoln, Nebraska. He collected fossils as a child and began speculating on the evolution of humankind and the universe. His early Continue reading text links
Dickey, James
by Brian Anderson (2000) DICKEY, JAMES [LAFAYETTE] (1923-1997). James Dickey, noted poet, novelist, and critic, was born in Atlanta, Georgia. During World War II, he served in a night-fighter squadron in the South Pacific. In the late 1940s he attended Continue reading text links
Desrosiers, Leo-Paul
by Donald P. Curtis (2000) DESROSIERS, LEO-PAUL (1896-1967). Leo-Paul Desrosiers was born in Berthier-en-Haut, Quebec, a village on the banks of the Saint Lawrence River northeast of Montreal. His happy childhood provided him with material for his first work, Ames Continue reading text links
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Tagged 20th Century, Fiction, French, Great Lakes, Maritime History
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Dean, Harry
by Boyd Childress (2000) DEAN, HARRY [FOSTER] (1864-1935). Published in 1929 in Boston, Berlin, and London, Harry Dean’s unique sea narrative and remarkable autobiography was entitled Umbala in Britain and The Pedro Gorino in the United States. Dean was born Continue reading text links
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Tagged 19th Century, 20th Century, First-person narrative, Passenger Travel
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Cozzens, James Gould
by Douglas Robillard (2000) COZZENS, JAMES GOULD (1903-1979). Born in Chicago, James Gould Cozzens lived for a time on Staten Island. Educated at the Kent School and at Harvard, he left college after completing a first work,Confusion: a Novel (1924). After Continue reading text links
Colcord, Joanna Carver
by Mary Malloy (2000) COLCORD, JOANNA CARVER (1882-1960). Born aboard the Charlotte A. Littlefield, a vessel commanded by her father, Joanna Carver Colcord spent her first eighteen years at sea. She went ashore to attend the University of Maine and graduated Continue reading text links
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Tagged 19th Century, 20th Century, Caribbean, Multimedia/Multimodal
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Coker, Daniel
by Richard J. King (2000) COKER, DANIEL (1780-1846). The son of a white servant and a black slave, Daniel Coker was born in Maryland as Isaac Wright, changing his name when he escaped to New York. After buying his freedom, Continue reading text links
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Tagged 18th Century, 19th Century, First-person narrative, Middle Passage and Enslavement
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Carson, Rachel
by Betsy S. Hilbert (2000) CARSON, RACHEL [LOUISE] (1907-1964). Though Rachel Carson’s fame as an environmental writer rests on the warnings about pesticide pollution in her last book, Silent Spring (1962), her previous three books on the sea established her reputation. Under the Continue reading text links
Carse, Robert
by Donald P. Curtis (2000) CARSE, ROBERT (1902-1971). A Great Lakes sailor at seventeen, Robert Carse later worked salt water, attaining the position of chief mate. He sailed most of the world and developed a reputation as an expert seaman Continue reading text links
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Tagged 20th Century, Children's Writing, Exploration, Fiction, Great Lakes, Maritime History, Short Story
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Calvin, Jack
by Kenneth A. Robb (2000) CALVIN, JACK (1901-1985). Jack Calvin was well acquainted with the Pacific coast from Monterey north. His first two novels, Square-Rigged (1929) and Fisherman 28 (1930), are based on his experience sailing from San Francisco to the Bering Sea. After Continue reading text links
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Tagged 20th Century, Pacific Ocean, Recreation, Science/Nature
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Brooks, Kenneth F., Jr.
by Mira Dock (2000) BROOKS, KENNETH F., JR (1921- ). Kenneth F. Brooks Jr., a decorated World War II pilot living near Washington, D.C., spent his childhood summers on his uncle’s sailboat in the Chesapeake Bay and continues to sail. Continue reading text links
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Tagged 20th Century, Children's Writing, Fiction
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Blatchford, John
by Daniel E. Williams (2000) BLATCHFORD, JOHN (1762-1794). John Blatchford’s account of his voyages is one of the more extraordinary sea narratives from the American Revolution. First published in 1788 and soon republished in at least half a dozen other Continue reading text links
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Tagged 18th Century, Atlantic Ocean, First-person narrative, War
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Beston, Henry
by Joseph Flibbert (2000) BESTON [SHEAHAN], HENRY (1888-1968). Born Henry Boston Sheahan in Quincy, Massachusetts, Henry Beston is the author of about a dozen books, including The Outermost House. A Year of Life on the Great Beach of Cape Cod (1928). In Continue reading text links
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Tagged 20th Century, Coastal Life, First-person narrative, Science/Nature
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Barth, John
by Julius Rowan Raper (2000) BARTH, JOHN [SUMMONS] (1930- ). There is a great deal of water in the fiction of John Barth, as one would expect of a writer who was born in Cambridge on the eastern shore of Continue reading text links
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Tagged 20th Century, Atlantic Ocean, cruise ships, Fiction, Nonfiction, Recreation (beaches, Science/Nature, Short Story, small boat sailing
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